Swedish furniture giant Ikea has recently opened an 'innovation laboratory' in Copenhagen that aims to provide a space for product prototype testing for home designs of the future. It is said to be the furniture behemoth's way of gaining access to the newest and boldest ideas and addressing some of the biggest home design problems.
Aptly labeled as 'Space 10,' Ikea aims to partner with researchers and innovators from the art, design and technology industries to come up with modern and innovative products as well as workshops. The space is built in a former fishery shop and was redesigned by architecture studio Spacon & X.
The idea for Space10 started 3 years ago, when the BraÌŠkig furniture collection was designed by Ikea with the help of Rebel Agency, a small Danish design company built by Carla Cammilla Hjort. The project was a tremendous success so Ikea's CEO set a meeting with Hjort and her colleague Simon Caspersen to discuss what project they would do next.
Caspersen recalls, "Instead of just creating a better future for Ikea, our starting point was asking how Ikea could help create a better future for the world. So what we suggested was, let's get rid of the whole client-agency model, have Ikea pay the basic fees and costs of running a space, and then devote ourselves to looking 10 or 20 years down the pipeline, and how Ikea can be relevant in that world."
Space10's first project is called 'Fresh Living Lab' and 12 designers from the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design came up with ways to improve people's health and wellbeing, especially those who are living in urban areas. The lab showcased living spaces which of course included different Ikea products.
Some examples of their ingenious ideas include the Heat Harvest device, a gadget that uses heat coming from home appliances, a percolator for example, to charge mobile phones or tablets. Another is the Cloud Burst faucet which signals the user if they have consumed their allotted time in the shower through a glowing red button. Its aim of course is to conserve water.
These products are not expected to be available in the market soon, but Ikea Concept Innovation Manager Göran Nilsson says selling these is not entirely the point. Nilsson explains, "The idea is to let outside designers work on possibly disruptive new ideas, right under their nose, with the hopes that these fresh voices and visions will help prevent Ikea's vision from going stale."